henry: portrait of serial killer

The Serial Killer film exists in that ineffable space between and within multiple genres. There are definitive strands reaching back to noir, slashers, and some city symphony films. There have also been so many serial killer films as to perhaps make their own genre altogether apart from horror or suspense thrillers. As of late television seems to be the new home for these narratives, strung out in season long arcs or crammed into the exploitation story-of-the-week on the latest versions of CSI or Law & Order.

Snuff. It’s a word that brings up some pretty strong emotions. Disgust. Fear. Revulsion. Curiosity. It was because of that last one that I checked out “Snuff: A Documentary about Killing on Camera”. I’ve always been interested in urban legends, and snuff films are one uniquely of our time. Politicians and pastors have held snuff films as being one of the ultimate evils in our society, yet, to date, there’s seemingly never been one recorded case of an actual snuff film surfacing.